Whistle if  You Need Me
by weirdgirl42
Summary: This is what I think shouldcould happen in Dead Doll.  Spoilers for the preview...kinda.


_Author's Note: So this is actually kind of what I think is gonna happen from seeing the previews for "Dead Doll."_

**Whistle if You Need Me**

Grissom raced towards the overturned car. He wasn't even aware that Nick was beside him. As soon as he reached the wreck he dropped to his knees and began tearing at the sand. He could feel the panic begin to rise.

Soon there were more people around. Machines to raise up the car. Grissom felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Nick standing beside him.

"Griss stop. They're gonna pull the car up. You have to move."

Grissom looked down and his hands, scraped and bleeding slightly from digging. Then he looked up at Nick with an unfocused look. Nick was taken aback at the sight of tears in his mentor's eyes. This was going to be the end of the older man, he could see that now.

Grissom reluctantly stood and moved away from the car as the rescue team began to work. After a few agonizingly slow minutes the car started to rise. At that point Catherine, Warrick, Greg, and Brass had arrived and were standing behind him. They watched, breaths held, as sand spilled from the car windows. The car continued to rise and reveal the ground beneath.

Grissom fell to his knees The sand and dirt had filled in any space under the car. his shoulders shook with sobs he had been holding back since finding the model. Around him Warrick had pulled Catherine into a tight embrace, while Nick was trying to stop Greg from contaminating the scene by digging through his grief. Grissom could hear Greg's cries but couldn't pull himself from his own pain to even acknowledge Brass's arm around his shoulders.

XXXXXXXXXX

From her place under the low rock hang, Sara could hear the cars arrive. She could hear the machinery. Could hear the shouting and cries of pain. She could hear it all, but her throat could not yell out. Her body could not move out from the minimal shade she had found after crawling out, half-drowned, from under the car.

She was fairly certain her left arm, leg, and at least two ribs were broken. She was more than fairly certain she was dehydrated and at risk of dying of exposure. She didn't know if she'd last until they did a perimeter check. She had to get their attention.

All of a sudden a memory came to her in a way she had been sure only happened in movies. A baseball game with Grissom. They'd gone right after Nick was buried alive. Their first date. In the third inning a 51's player hit a home run. They'd stood to cheer and Grissom had brought his hand to his mouth and let out a loud whistle.

Sara had expressed a lifelong desire to learn to whistle like that and Grissom had spent the rest of the game trying to teach her. When she'd finally gotten in a few innings later, she had lit up like she'd just won the lottery. Grissom had smiled and then leaned over and kissed her for the first time.

"Now you can whistle if you need me," he'd said when he'd pulled back. She'd smiled and whistled again.

Now, in the middle of the Vegas desert, Sara let the memory wash over her like the rainfall from earlier. If she ever needed Grissom, it was now. Slowly, for the movement took great painful effort, she raised her right hand to her mouth and whistled.

It was raspy but it was there. She used the last of her saliva to wet her lips before whistling again. This time it was loud and clear.

XXXXXXXXXX

Brass was trying to convince Grissom to leave the scene. He didn't want his friend to have to watch Sara's body pulled out of the sand. But Grissom couldn't move. Couldn't even think. How could he leave when his whole being was with Sara under the ground?

Grissom was about to tell Brass to back off when he heard it. It was faint but even over the din of the machines he could hear it. Standing up he walked around the car towards the direction the sound had come from.

He heard it again. Much louder this time. A whistle. Sara's whistle. His heart jumped. "SARA!" he yelled.

The rest of the team watched him with looks of confusion and sympathy. But when the whistle came for the third time they all heard it. They ran frantically towards the sound, eyes scanning the harsh terrain.

Grissom saw it first. The edge of a dark vest. He ran towards the rock hang and slid down like a player sliding into home. When the dust cleared he was looking into Sara's brown eyes, tired, yet open and alert.

He watched as her lips slowly formed a small smile. "Hey," she whispered, her voice soft and hoarse.

Grissom reached out and brushed some sand off her cheek. He was oblivious to the bustle around him as the rest of the team directed the EMTs to their location. Lost in her eyes all he could do was mouth "Love you" as the paramedics pulled her out, shining lights in her eyes and asking if she knew where she was and what day it was.

Minutes later Grissom was jumping into the med evac helicopter. He didn't even give the paramedics a chance to argue. Sara's eyes were closed, the sedative she'd received once the EMTs had confirmed her leg, arm, and ribs were broken taking over her ability to stay awake. They were already pumping fluids into her.

Grissom ran his hand through he hair and kissed her forehead. The crinkles that had been there disappeared at his soothing touch.

"It's okay Sara," he said softly in her ear. "I've got you."

XXXXXXXXXX

Several hours later Grissom sat in a hospital chair next to Sara's bed. She'd been rushed to surgery to repair minor internal bleeding caused by three broken ribs, and put two pins in her arm. her leg had not been broken too badly, though she would need a cast for a few months. But her arm had been fractured in three places. She'd have the pins for the rest of her life.

Once the doctor had told them that Sara could have visitors, Grissom had sat down next to her bed with no intention of moving until she woke, and then he'd only move to be closer to her.

The rest of the team had been and left. Nick promising to go feed Bruno and take him for a walk, Brass to help the sheriff deal with the press, and Greg to start processing evidence.

"We'll make sure Natalie never gets out," he'd told Grissom as he left.

Catherine and Warrick had stayed a little longer. Before they left Catherine had leaned down and told Sara she was sorry and promised that things would be better now. Warrick kissed Sara lightly on the cheek and said that as her big brother he wanted her to wake up soon. He'd let Catherine walk out before him and then turned to Grissom. Telling the older man that as Sara's big brother he'd break Grissom's kneecaps if he broke Sara's heart. Then he'd smiled and grasped Grissom's shoulder briefly before leaving.

So Grissom was alone with her at last. And though the entire time they had been sitting in the waiting room he had wished for this moment, now he found himself unsure of what to do or say.

Intellectually he knew it wasn't his fault. Natalie was crazy and she had struck out at Sara as a part of that insanity. But his mind couldn't convince his heart. It was his fault. And what about the rest of his enemies? Would they come after her too? And even though Sara had smiled at him from under that rock. he couldn't shake the fear that she'd wake up and want nothing more to do with him. They'd gotten through the rough patch with his sabbatical and Heather. But he wasn't sure if they'd get through this.

All his fears dissolved at the moment she opened her eyes. She saw him a and looked at him with such love that he knew nothing would be able to tear them apart. He was at her side instantly, holding a glass of water to her parched lips. She drank greedily and then looked up at him smiling.

"You found me," she said.

"I'm so sorry Sara," he whispered.

"What are you sorry about?"

"She took you to hurt me."

"Not your fault."

"I almost lost you," he said, his voice held unshed tears and he lay his head gently on her chest, mindful of her ribs. Sara brought her uninjured hand to gently stroke through his hair.

"You won't lose me Gil. No matter what happens. You'll never lose me."

Grissom raised his head and she wiped his tears away. "Besides," she added, "you can always whistle if you need me."

The End

_Please review._


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